Orchid Help

strawberrycrz

I have an orchid that I've had since May.  It was doing really well for awhile, but now the leaves are turning yellow and falling off.  The blooms have fallen off a few months ago.  I read online that you shouldn't water it for awhile and that should help, and I've tried that but it's about to lose it's 3rd leave and the others are starting to get lighter.  What should I do?

nital

i'd check the roots and repot.  wet the entire pot and media thoroughly and remove the moss.  trim away any dead/squishy roots, and repot in new media.  i can't grow orchids in spagnum moss, they all die.  i prefer bark or a clay aggegate.  orchids like crowded roots...choose a pot based on the rootball, it should just barely fit in the pot..

strawberrycrz

i'll have to try that...thanks

j+k

You watered it too much. I agree - re-pot it.  I also suggest orchid bark as another option and re-plant it in a pot that's designed for orchids - which has holes on the sides of the pot.  Let it get dry, and then start watering it minimally. It could take a while for it to come back, but don't give up on it. Let it go thru some dormancy and re-group. If you don't overwater it, you'll see it start to come back.

Orchids are tougher plants than you realize. They can do without water for long periods of time. My sister let her orchid bloom out, stuck it behind a bigger plant in the corner behind some huge plants for the winter and forgot about it...come spring, she re-discovered it, put it back in the sun, started watering it to see if it would do anything and it came back to life and double in size and blooms. 

 

strawberrycrz

thanks for the suggestion.  I'll look for one of those pots tomorrow.